(Takes place right after the end of "The Washouts", think of it as a sort of extended epilogue to it. An early birthday present for Ashliegh Ball. Proofread by Smity91 on Fanfiction.net)
Again Lightning Dust's ego and actions have come back to bite her, this time landing her in the hospital in a full body wing hoof and cast, drinkin' through a straw. Her reputation in shambles and the stunt pony troupe she worked so hard to create now leaderless.
Unable to move or do much of anything, the pegasus is surprised to receive a visitor. And not just any visitor, but the same Rainbow Dash she now considers a rival.
But Rainbow Dash has her reasons for wanting to see what's become of her one time partner. Reasons that will shock Lightning Dust to her very core. After all, why would anypony in their right mind show up if not to mock her?
I like this ending, wish it was canon.
Reminds me of this comic on Deviantart https://www.deviantart.com/sdsilva94/art/Dust-to-Dust-Part-1-342997384 https://www.deviantart.com/sdsilva94/art/Dust-to-Dust-Part-2-344099235
9521460
Yes, I could see this interaction in a canon episode.
Well, firstly, Spitfire did encourage Lightning Dust and only acted when it covered her tail from being dragged down with her, much like Rainbow falls where the Bolt's should've been disqualified for a half dozen reasons.
So Dash's loyalty is making her a tad bit blind here.
And considering it was Spitfire and the Acadamy's one and only job to curb any and all behavior not suitable to their end goals.
Which once more goes back to the general failure that is Spitfire/the Acadamy.
The only way thing's would be different is if Spitfire and the Acadamy were held as accountable as everything else, instead of shunting the blame on a symptom of a failing system to save a popular friend of the main cast.
So...no, things really can't, because Dash and the Bolt's still have the untouchable nature provided by their connections, and continue to display the same failing's that promoted and instigated the conflict in the first place.
And Lightning is, justifiably, bitter and furious at the two faced actions of those involved, only amplifying her reckless behavior in her desperate attempts to put them in their place.
Wonderful! I see you took Inspiration From that one Story with simliar Content. Frankly, i could Imagine The two being Good Friends
I have to admit that I DID really enjoy this one-shot mini-epilogue. Rainbow's admissions and Lightning's inner thoughts on the matter were quite well done.
9521590
True. But Lighting still tried to use Scoots as revenge proxy against Dash. Worse, she pushed a child into perform an extremely dangerous stunt. If Dust, an professional stunt flier, ended in the hospital, Scoots may as well ended in a funeral parlour. Dash had every reason to be pissed out.
Is this a re-upload? I feel like I've read this exact same story before.
That’s some story. I wonder if Lightning Dust will recover. I started a series of stories about LD’s human counterpart. The first is called “The Redemption of Lightning Dust”. I’m still waiting for story 2 to be approved.
9521744
I'm not saying she's innocent by any means, but by and large Dust's actions are a byproduct of negligent officals and hamfisted solutions. And, just because it's a fact regarding the episode's script from the writer themselves, the entended scene for the end wasn't supposed to be a blast off, the Washout's were meant to leave by their own volition after the rocket went kaput.
Plus, if endangering lifes an issue, this goes back to the negligence of the aforementioned officials, and adds the continued destructive and massively more damaging actions the main cast have been responsible for with little more then a 'Sorry' before being allowed to continue as though it never happened.
It's less 'who's right?' and more 'pot meet kettle, kettle meet pot'.
9521953
It's always the same with MLP designated antagonists.
In their first episode it's easy to find out they have valid points. See examples:
- Trixie is an entertainer, so she was justified in telling invented or exaggerated stories. Also the Six were heckling her show aka business. Also, the Ursa wasnt her fault.
- The Flim Flam brothers had a machine which really worked and could have potentially skyrocketed Apple Family's benefits, may they had been less "tradition is good enough".
- Iron Will was correct in that Fluttershy needed to address her lack of assertiveness. Also, when she refused to pay out because been "unsatisfied" he conceded the point and left.
- Lighting Dust. No need of further discussion.
Next episode? Their personalities have been conveniently flattened out into one dimensional jerks and bullies: Trixie the mad sorceress, Flim and Flam and Iron Will the con men...Lighting Dust the two faced sociopath.
As usual, blame bad writting
9521974
The writing was relatively good.
The execution by the animation team and voice actor's however took it to be the classic Team Rocket scene, which is were it went wrong.
Well, not wrong per se bu they missed the actual intent that was put forth and substituted their own.
9521978
The Washouts just leaving would have been a lot lamer than the "blasting off" - the only thing missing was the coda embodying Spitfire's line, which our author has here restored and expanded on.
9521974
I do agree somewhat with this, but I think some of this ambiguity was unintentional (Flim and Flam's dishonesty is sort of in their names). In other cases characters have gone back and forth (like Trixie). And Lighting Dust here is just escalation - without the Wonderbolts structure to hold her back at least a little, she gets even more out of control.
(I will give you Iron Will - but his exit was also cool.)
9522058
Except lamer doesn't mean better. Something cool and flashy often lacks substance, such as Dash's continual arrogance and frankly lackluster improvement in her own faults while routinely being the cool one.
Even more so since the Bolt's never bothered to hold Lightning back, meaning She's not really eacallated, just given a reason to actually be antagonistic and focus her negative emotions toward a single target. Her lack of care to injury is more a side effect of her daredevil nature then an intentional act on her part.
The argument that Flim and Flam are inherently dishonest is also a bit skewed, as in their first appearance they are haggling.
More specifically they're 'aiming high and shooting low' as the saying goes, initiating with an offer that's clearly one sided to make an even or more beneficial split more acceptable to the original bargain. A practice common amongst salesman not operating with a set price point for their product in bygone era's. And considering Applejack's outright denial of being in the wrong, despite the entire fiasco really being tied to her allowing Applebloom to speak as a owner of the farm and as a legally binding action, really show's how she wasn't 'in the right all along', even if Flim and flam took advantage of the situation.
Which frankly, I can't blame them, Applejack played a stupid game and won stupid prizes in every sense of the word with that contest.
Trixie, while arrogant, is a stage performer specializing in slight of hand and simple spells to misdirect. Her initial lie was just that, a hype for the crowd.
And while admittadly, the way she handled it wasn't any more mature then Rarity, Applejack or Rainbow's heckling, the three of them had the option of just leaving. Blaming her for the Ursa is also unfair, as that falls entirely to the negligent parenting and sheer stupidity of Snips and Snails, who were at best handwaved and at worst rewarded for endangering their entire town by Twilight.
The Amulet she used is also stated to clearly alter the mind of the wearer, so holding her accountable for everything is directly spat on by multiple events, including but not limited to Luna and Rarity's own mind controlled chaos, of which those two did little to nothing to own up to.
9522143
I consider the blasting off/ ending up in a cast to have substance enough - it actualizes the risks which until now have mostly been expessed in words, while also being a humourous callback.
And if you see Lightning Dust as always having been this reckless, then how is her portayal OOC?
Flim and Flam are quite clearly designed as con artists, from their names to their Music Man act - if they came off as offering a legitamate deal in their first appearnce, then I would attrbute that to mixed-up writing (I don't exactly think highly of that episode).
Trixie, on the other hoof, was more legitamtely ambiguos during her debut, and that has followed over to her subsequnt portrayal - she's an unpleasnt pony but not a bad one, with her worst acts, as you mentioned, being due to external corruption.
9522315
I didn't say her portrayal was out of character, quite the opposite actually. I simply pointed out that Rainbow and Spitfire's actions and two faced decisions had given her a reason to actually be antagonistic rather then simply reckless. Her lack of self preservation, and a lack of fear/understanding for the injuries caused by the stunts she thrives own, are tied to the her reckless, adrenaline junkie personality, not outright hostility. At least originally.
And honestly, the body cast makes no sense when we've seen other's be hit by far worse with little to no consequence, but that's cartoon logic.
The fact that this would leave Dust drugged to hell and back also is a factor, as coupled with Rainbow's lack of issue with the Bolt's continued failures and lack of any improvement there in alongside her lack of care towards anything that happened in the acadamy, she comes across as a tad bit patronizing and holier than thou, talking down to someone she used as a stepping stone.
While yes, Flim and Flam are modeled after a stereotype, the initial interaction was not a con, but rather Applejack being horrible at business. After that, the writing for the minor antagonist's took a nose dive in their regards, but considering the show redeemed the mass torturer and monster of Discord on the grounds of him not having any friends before, I'm hard pressed to have sympathy for the main cast when something takes advantage of them.
If Discord's excusable then frankly they can't complain about anyone.
Edit: Trixie's not even unpleasant, she's someone who's had to fight tooth and nail for everything, and developed a dependency on the stage persona she used because of it, opposed to Twilight, who had her entire life handed to her due to Celestia's(honestly selfish, disloyal and general everything else against harmony's components) desire to have her sister back, and is responsible for as much if not more damage under her own choices.
One's got problems from having life of actual work, the other's sheltered and protected from the consequences of her actions while also having connections to the most influential beings in their society due to a frankly worthless piece colored quartz.
This was interesting reading. I don't know if Lightning will take up Rainbow on her offer, but the fact that she's even considering the idea is promising.
9522337
You certainly seem to have some strong opinions. I do think that Trixie and to a lesser extent Dust have been shaped by their lives, but that doesn't men that their own personalities aren,t a factor too - Dust could have learned her lesson after the Academy, and Trixie doesn't have to be as... well, Trixie as she is to everypony. (She is growing, thanks to her friendship with Starlight - Dust's teamates, on the other hoof, reinforcece her issues.)
With Flim and Flam, I honestly believe that the writing error was not making their debut a clear con in the first place - thankfully, subsequnt showings of them have corrected this flaw.
As for your contrast between Trixie and Twilight, I find it not nescessarily all wrong but certainly rather informed by your own assumptions - I'll agree that a poor backgtound for Trixie seems likely (though hardly certain),but I disagree that Celestia only took Twilight as her student for Luna's sake.
And who would learn a lesson upon learning those also at failt were praised, not just for their failure, but for their continued inaction and fault? The fact her teammates were failed as well proves that Spitfire is greatly at fault and held to a far, far lower standard despite continous and varied actions to disgrace her legacy.
Frankly having Flim and Flam be straight cons is lazy writing. Having a black and white dichotomy show's little of the nuance that Honesty is, and even less understanding over how people decide their actions, not to mention makes an easy out for literally every character standing against them.
While her personality is abrasive, Trixie is both nowhere near as arrogant, prideful, nor as destructive as the mane six, predominately Applejack for pride, Rainbow for shear arrogance and generally all of them for destruction, which goes back to pot meet kettle.
As for Starlight, frankly she's sitting with Discord in the 'does not deserve forgiveness' camp. Twilight and Celestia did jack all to help the Ponies she hurt and her crimes, no matter how unknown to the greater nation, are beyond evil and sit into monster territory. Until she actively removes the mirrored timelines or fixes the damages she caused I couldn't care less if she just dissapeared from the show along side Discord. And while she's improving, the fact that there are probably hundreds of others more deservinng of that chance being denied it due to Twilight having a personal interest in her is insulting, as is Tempest the war criminal being given a wiped slate for no other reason the Equestria said so.
Lucking into a hero role because Celestia's once again to lazy to implement any kind of countermeasure to known and quantified threats, often to the detriment of her own people or other nations, doesn't suddenly clear the board.
A good deed doesn't make one innocent of a different act, good intentions aren't worth anything if you aren't going to fix the damage when things go wrong, and saying doesn't mean anything for the same reason.
Frankly, from personal experiance, if one's not going to hold all involved to the same standard one has no rigjt to judge, and to do so just shows massive personal bias and hypocrisy. And no, none of the antagonists are innocent, barring Trixie and Iron Will since her biggest crime prior to the amulet is havingn a persona, and him doing his job respectively, I'm just not going to agree to treating the mane six and everyone they care about as untouchable till they tale responsibility for their actions.
Adding to that, whats stated to be multiple failed attempts at finding am element bearer with frankly horrible results says otherwise.
Sunset's an entirely different can of worms as is the apparant use of another dimension as a dumping ground, as well as the lack of proper contact between a ruling member making a legal decision and proper authorities in the entire dimensions she arrogantly presumes to have jurisdiction in.
9522666
I really don't get what you are talking about here. Are you talking about the other Washouts?
If that's how you feel then I won't argue with you, but I will contest any suggestion that they were ever meant to be anything else.
I'm quite sceptical about this statement - if the Mane 6 have more onscreen damage, then I'm pretty sure that's down to them being onscreen more. They've also done a lot more good than Trixie has. (And AJ is perfectly capable of humility - Trixie... is improving.)
Both of those opinions are subjective enough that I'm not going to try and argue them - deserved or not though, they both make for better allies than enemies.
I don't get this either.
9522875
Why would Lightning, having watched Spitfire and other's be praised for their failure and continued negligence at the acadamy, learn a lesson that they to need to learn and act on when they are praised for ignoring it?
And I will contest that they were intended to be con artists to begin with since Applejack was more at fault for the entire fiasco of their first meeting, down to the contract in the first place.
We have at least one named, Sunset Shimmer, and hinted dozens of students she's tried to bond the elememt of magic to, with only one success, the only otherone we have and ever will get, is a criminal in two dimensions and frankly should've been brought back to Equestria with every other piece of trash sent through it before the mirror was shattered
You seriously expect me to beleive a travelling magician is responsible for more damage then the mane six, who have at minimum: destroyed several building's in ponyvill on at least five seperate occasions split between them, toppled a clock tower, assaulted a dozen(or more) individuals, broke into and sabotaged a weather factory that in turn would've done massive damage to the surrounding area from killing tree's from rapid frost to collapsing roofs from hundreds of pounds of snow deposited instantly?
As far as I'm concerned both of them should've been sent to Tartarus, or frankly blown to bit's ala Sombra since Discord is literally Sombra with no end goal, and Starlight is borderline responsible for millions of casualties across those timelines and the torture of a small town. And her response of 'I didn't know' about the mane six says three things; that the elements of Harmony don't solve anything and make it someone elses problem, that Celestia can't even bother to put in ordinaces to stop Flim and Flam from polluting a town much less use 900+ years to actively come up with a different solution, and she has the research skills of a cadaver. Neither should be an ally and with Discord literally sitting on his tail 99.9% of the time he's not an ally so much as a waste of power and constant tiptoeing around issues.
I'll consider him reformed and actually an ally when he's not showing up to purely save Fluttershy, and does so more then once in a year.
And which episode did she watch this in - an unaired one? Not Wonderbolts Academy, that's for sure.
Getting the mark to put themself on the hook is Cons 101. If it ended up looking more like her idiocy than their skill, then I blame the writers.
I'm not quite sure where you're getting this - the Sunset part is an arguable inference, but by the time you turn it into some kind of production line and declare everypony else on it failures...
FIrstly, we don't actually have any proof of Celestia ever taking personal students before Sunset. Now I believe she did, dozens over the centuries... but I also believe that this was for the sake of their development and because she loves teaching, not in a hunt for an Element Bearer. (Unless you think she could produce ascension on command, what good would it even do her to find a mortal bearer halfway through Luna's exile?)
The human government might hold this opinion, but I doubt they'd appreciate the level of Equestrian intervention it would require.
Comparing one pony to six is hardly fair. (Rainbow probably topped her if we discount her Amulet period.) And how are we to tell, when we have little idea of what she gets up to offscreen? In any case, the value of a pony can't be measured by a damages bill alone.
Well, both I and the show disagree - even postreformation Discord at his worst hasn't matched his first appearance, which means it's working, And just because the show's narrative doesn't allow him to solve the plot by snapping his fingers doesn't mean that having him on side doesn't make in-universe sense.
As for Starlight- well I can't really count the timelines into it, for a few reasons - I don't really understand them, she didn't seem to know about or intend them, and I find that episode to just be pretty terrible anyway so it's hard for me to dwell on it. So that leaves her village, which I agree warrants punishment - I found the way the show handled it, with them all being fine with her, quite a cop-out. (Especially since how to deal with those you wronged unforgivably would make a decent episode - it could replace that piece of trash Every Little Thing She Does.)
9522987
See above.
9523078
The acadamy, the press for every other public incident in the show, Rainbow just clapping her hooves at getting what she wanted at the end of the acadamy.
It adds up.
And I'd call the lack of common and business sense to not let a child speak for you in a legally binding manner blunt stupidity. And that's what Applejack did, because she to proud to admit when she's wrong.
Then the mirror meets a nuke, then it's broken. Problem solved, every other creature that pops up get's a bullet to the head.
Congratulations, a blackmailed god isn't galavanting around because his precious pony doesn't want him to. What has he done to atone for his previous actions of his own volition? Nada. Zilch. And the boldfaced lie about him purposefully leavingn clues to beat Tirek can get thrown out with the trash he is as even he was shocked at Twilight lying through her teeth to make him look better.
So no, it hasn't worked, it's another instant of freinds in high places.
And yet, Celestia has found not one, but two, ponies capable of Ascension in less then forty years. Theres coincidence and then theres a pattern. Like Celestia's manipulation of records and inability to do anything but throw the elements at a problem.
Then let's split it down, and yes the Amulet doesn't count otherwise we can drag Rarity for being under a books spell, which I know you would refuse to do.
Gee, as individuals the mane six still actively outstrip Trixie. Because low and behold she's a normal pony who can't avoid being arrested like the Mane Six, repeatedly.
9523134
Yes, the Wonderbolts have good press despite some questionable practices (although Dash has always called them on it in the end, and she's on course foe captain.) But safety is is one area they do seem to be pretty strict on, and Lightning Dust defying that isn't their fault - her reckless actions are her own responsibility, especially after they got her thrown out of the Academy.
I did say the details were poorly written - the terms of the bet were pretty unclear in the first place.
That certainly seems like a solution.... from a very different kind of show. (And given that it's a conflict-killer, it wouldn't even work there - it would just be the backstory to the 50-foot bleeding wound in reality that spews forth bulletproof monsters infused with magical radiation.)
Yes, this is indeed a success worthy of unironic congratulations.
I do think that as he is now, he would have cleaned up the plundervines himself. As for his other misdeeds, I'm pretty sure the Elements fixed them all. And as for more general atonement... I think he'd need to feel regret or guilt first.
Yeah. I never believed that one either. But he was still the last key to victory.
First, Sunset's potential is still unconfirmed. Second, we don't exactly know how rare such potential is anyway - most ponies might simply never be in circumstances which trigger it. Thirdly, if your students are chosen from the most promising ponies in Equestria, then the odds are decent even if your not actually looking. Fourth, we don't even know if ascension-potential and Element Bearing are aligned - Cadance never had one. And fifth, two data points is a lot closer to coincidence than pattern.
She managed without them for a thousand years, in which times it strains credulity that there were not more crises overall than in the last few.
First, which of the Mane 6 are you thinking of? Second, the disparity of screentime still applies. And finally, I'd say that Trixie did a pretty good job of not getting arrested after Magic Duel - especially if the rules for amulet insanity are the same as for intoxication (if you do it to yourself your'e still culpable.) She knew that it was bad mojo even if she didn't know the details.
9523201
What episodes on the bolts have you watched?
Spitfire outright congratulates Dash and Dust on using a tornado befofe Dash put's her foot down, so safety isn't even a close second in her books. And Dash stops short of actually holding them to their actions, she basically calls them out, get's what she wants and then ignores it for the rest of the show.
Allow me to clarify, nuke goes through the mirror, then the mirrors shattered before detonation.
If theres a rip in reality it goes to Starswirls shoddy spell at that point.
And yet Celestia had no response to: Discord, Nightmare Moon, Tirek, Chrysalis, The Storm King, Tempest, and how many others?
Discord, Nightmare Moon, Tirek; at least 800 years to develop countermeasures for, and at least two were ordained to return centuries in advance. Tirek also has the caveat of being a member of a species who all possess some aptitude for the magic draining. A recorded and studied ability by there kind, the supposedly allied kingdom that Celestia never bothered to gather information from to prevent Tirek's abilities from being a threat. Over how many years.
Chrysalis had an entire army floating above the city for how many days and no one decided to look up, Celestia never added defenses against the Changeling's to basic practice after the fact, and let's just point out the massive strategic and logical blunders that allowed the wedding to take place and Shining Armor to quite literally be the only real defense when he's also one of two primary targets outside of military value.
And this is ignoring the potential of Chrysalis and Celestia having previously fought each other, which further implicates her negligence.
The entire fleet of ships under Tempests control had to cover half of Equestria's total area from every direction to reach Canterlot.
Them succeeding with no prior warning, even more so when allied nations went dark and Celestia just shrugged at it, is nothing but sheer incompetence.
Every major acheivement Celestia's had is tied to the Element's or advisors, and at this point theres very little to respect in her intentions.
Even mpre so when Tartarus has basically nothing but Cerberus keeping things from just waltzing off if the poorly made cages fail.
9523306 9523201 Folks, please discontinue this. It's getting annoying and I don't think most people who read the fic came here for this argument.
9523306
In a qualified way that obviously assumes that it was done safely, yes.
I'm not sure what you mean by "ignored - she was ready to leave, but Spitfire said this.
Now maybe the 'bolts haven't lived up to this perfectly since, but Dash is sure that they'll come to embody it under her inevitable captaincy. Dream big, right?
Yes, I'm not sure if even the current President would be dumb enough to try this one. Think about it for even a minute - if a portal was made once, how do you know they can't whip up another one, say, in the face of an act of war? Or another hundred, even?
Some of those are more justifiable than others - but all ultimately come down to the fact that antagonists don't appear on the show to be solved by Celestia. Maybe if she was a protagonist rather than a mentor...
Only Nightmare's return was ordained, actually - the other two were unpleasant surprise, although you could argue that she should have had contingencies nonetheless. In the case of Discord, though, I think she honestly lacked any counter save the Elements, and Nightmare possibly comes with a bonus goal beyond her defeat - in any case, neither was around long enough to see any backup plans Celestia may or may not have had play out. As for Tirek, I don't read/acknowledge comics, so I can't really debate that point.
They're changelings. Do you really think they looked like an army of changelings?
You mean like code phrases and stuff?
Thankfully, this is never implied -and in fact anti-implied- in the show.
Yeah, I can't really say anything about this one - there's a reason that her popularity is at a relatively low ebb right now in my headcanon. (Twilight's, on the other wing, is soaring, to the point where some ponies are contemplating a change of leadership.)
Even if her only quality is having the right ponies in place, that's still something. And there's more to ruling a country than defending it - something that she's obviously manged sufficiently for the last thousand years anyhow,
9523333
Ok.
Good job writing this. Even coming out of someone as hardcore as Rainbow Dash, it's pretty emotionally compelling.
If only Spitfire had done the right thing and made Dusty Dashies wingpony.
Hopefully she returns in season 9 and finally reconciles with her old partner (that is exactly what should have happened in S8E20).
9523981 Kind of hard for that to happen now, considering what Lightning Dust willing did. That being said, I might like to see her and Wind Ryder teaming up, so as to tie up loose ends.
9524024
It can (and should) still happen.
Maybe they can team up against Wind Rider.
Hey is it alright if I did a Fanfiction reading of this?
9524732 Sure, just let me know when it's ready.
This feels like a great ending to The Washouts
Such a great point that Dash makes: redemption is offered to all, but it's down to you whether or not you accept it. Well done!
I could see this in the show (perhaps with a bit more action or something)
I liked this story; I liked a small kind of 'mending of fences' or 'extending out a hoof to help' for one who has transgressed. I could imagine Lightning Dust becoming friends with, say, Starlight Glimmer and Trixie Lulamoon and form a foundation for the 'Alternate-6' group!
I think Dust is lucky she wasn't sued... Even So called Xtreme Sports have some kind of safety measures, However, I can say that, They were also Old enough to make Stupid reckless decisions, but by Allowing a Child to particpate, That's Reckless Endangerment, She Didn't even have a Waiver! And The Wonderbolts could probably sue for Copyright Infringement and Defamation (Keep in mind my Legal knowledge is limited to Watching Judge Judy, Perry Mason, Matlock and Phoenix Wright, so a real Prosecutor could really through the book at her)
In other Words *Changes into Tropical Fruit hat*
"Scoots is gonna Sue the Pants of L. Dust"
Oh man another Miss opportunity to have lightning dust to actually have a Redemption after that episode maybe they could have talked to each other why did this have to come to here and maybe just maybe there's a chance that she can change her mind again I really don't like to say bad about the show but sometimes they have a really bad reputation when it comes to apologies and not giving out a pretty proper one so this was a good one
Wait, is her entire body in a cast or just her wings and hooves?